


Git Gud

by Jukingbox



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Gen, One Shot, Short, Short & Sweet, Short One Shot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-16
Updated: 2018-02-16
Packaged: 2019-03-19 08:54:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,861
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13701126
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jukingbox/pseuds/Jukingbox
Summary: A requestFrisk playing video games. What wacky adventure lies in wait for her?





	Git Gud

Frisk was no stranger to the word “determination.” It had carried her through the underground’s perils, permitted her manipulation of time, and even gave her power to crunch through her exams and homework assignments but no amount of determination, no time-bending resets, no willpower available on all the earth could have helped her through the agony, the heart-stopping terror, and the brutality of what she now faced.

_He’s swinging_

Dodge

_Okay, doesn’t look like he’s going for a second swing, hit him agai-_

SLASH

** YOU DIED **

_“UGH!”_

And sure enough, he kept on swinging, clouds rushing under his feet, wind howling through the ash on his crown as he continued to swing at his fallen opponent.

 

Frisk fell back onto the floor, the ground under her now warm from her two and a half hours of sitting in front of the TV. The all-too-familiar jingle of low haunting chimes played yet one more time as the “YOU DIED” message faded into a loading screen, this time jangling on about the Dark Blade or some other katana or one-handed sword she used in previous playthroughs. She didn’t even care to read it this time. The words no longer told her about the weapons or armor or the lore that surrounded them. Now it seemed each word on that darkened screen read “HA-HA YOU DIED AGAIN SCRUB.” Over and over again.

 

Or maybe that was just Monster Kid.

“Come on, Frisk! That’s ten times in a row, lemme try!”

“If I can’t beat him NO ONE CAN!”

“Oh, come on! Nameless King is easy mode, dude. I don’t know why-“

“-don’t know why you died thirteen times to the Abyss Watchers?”

“Hey! Those backflips are hard to dodge!”

“But you can stagger them, though.”

“Only if you’re a super slow ultra- greatsword user, which is why you keep-“

**“*Ahem! *”**

Toriel’s momentary scolding shook the two from their spots near the TV, both blushing a little in embarrassment. “You two have been on that game an awfully long while. Did you at least take a five-minute break once you played for more than thirty minutes?”

“Yes mom…”

“Yes, Mrs Dreemurr…”

Their unified reply did little to dissuade the old queen from rolling her eyes. “You two know how I feel about wasting all your time on that game. Frisk, did you at least finish your homework?”

“Yes, mom.”

“Better be telling the truth, young lady! Monster kid, will you be joining us for dinner?”

“I think so, yeah.”

“Good! Then you two will have to pause it. Supper will be ready in about ten minutes.”

“But you can’t pause this game!”

That little retort earned her ‘The Stare.’ That dreadful look in her mother’s eye that denoted motherly scorn and impatience. It made her shrivel where she sat, and with every second, she wanted more and more for the entire mountain supporting Archdragon Peak to tumble and fall upon her to hide her from Toriel’s mildly scornful gaze. Though he wasn’t in the queen’s crosshairs Monster kid could feel the shockwaves throttle his heart and stop his breathing, and he thought he would have to stay still forever so as to not incur that gaze.

Toriel closed her little diatribe as she waltzed away from the door, self-satisfied at the power of her glare. “Food over games, dear. Ten minutes.”

Frisk took what opportunity she had to close the door behind her. “Ten minutes? How am I gonna beat this guy in ten minutes?!”

“Maybe try something other than the Zweihander, maybe?”

“Are you kidding? You saw how much damage I was doing to him! That dark infusion destroys him and his dragon!”

“Not as fast as he destroys you while you’re still recovering from an R1…”

“UGH…”

Then, a knock at the door. Chagrin found itself once more on Frisk’s throat until she recognized the cadence. Rhythmical and firm, knocked to the beat of some Saturday morning cartoon (this time it was Inspector Gadget). It wasn’t Toriel’s but Papyrus’. Surely, she had sent him to corral the both of them to the dinner table, and so the child reluctantly opened the door.

“Hey Papyrus, we’ll be out in just a-“

“Greetings, Frisk! Are you ready for-“

“We’ll be ready for dinner in a second. Just don’t-“

“OOH!” Gleeful Papyrus could scarce understand the concept of ‘intrusion.’ He merrily hopped into the room, eyes glued to Frisk’ screen. Neither she nor Monster Kid had touched it since her last death. “Is this one of those newfangled video-games you and Monster Kid like so much?”

“Huh? Oh, yeah. We’re trying to beat a boss, and-“

“A boss?! Like that little half-naked red guy making funny gestures behind you?”

True to his word, there was some fat, green colored invader with nothing but a Desert Pyromancer’s skirt on, repeatedly making the “My Thanks!” gesture from behind Frisk’s Character’s back.

“WAIT, NO!”

She jumped for the controller, but it was too late. The invader slammed a dagger into her character’s back, taking all of his health in one fell swoop before those dreaded chimes played and that dreadful message appeared and that dreadful repeatedly-blocking-two-handed-above-the-enemy’s-corpse ensued with the invader.

“Look Frisk! He’s doing a little victory dance!”

“UGH!”

“Say, mind if I give a try?”

Everything in Frisk wanted to answer with a swift, resounding ‘NO!’ but Papyrus was by no means deserving of the fruits of her frustration. Defeatism crept into her troubled psyche, and with every call from Toriel, reminding her to turn off the game and set the table in five minutes, she grew more and more certain that the Nameless King’s soul would escape her grasp once again. In that defeat, she relinquished control.

“Sure.”

“WOWIE!”

Papyrus’ excitement did a little to assuage Frisk’s miry mood, but his fumbling at the controller and musing at the various buttons got her feeling low again quick.

“Now, which button does which?”

 ** _“*sigh…*,_** hold circle to dash and tap it to dodge, but watch your stamina. That’s the green bar. It runs out, and you can’t dash or attack anymore for a second until it comes back. Blue is Focus Points, but I never use them. Red is health. Lose it all, and you die. Press the square button to heal. You can heal up to fifteen times. R1 to attack, r2 to use a strong attack. That’s basically it.”

She only gave those instructions as a matter of formality. It was apparent that gears were turning in the skeleton’s skull, but nothing had come of it. “Okie-dokie!”

So, she sat down next to Monster kid, awaiting her character’s certain doom.

“And you wouldn’t even let me try.”

“Oh, shut it.”

“No squabbling, you two! I need to focus!” Said Papyrus as he meandered around the area leading to the boss. He went down a set of stairs and encountered several serpent-men, who didn’t hesitate to swarm him “Now, which one is the boss?”

Her head rested between her hands, dreading to see him get eviscerated by the simpler enemies. “None of those guys. He’s behind the fog-wall.”

“Oh, silly me! Where’s this ‘foggy-wall?’ is it up this ladder?”

“No, that’s not him…”

The Havel Knight, with his stone armor, dragon;s tooth, and titanic shield, impressed upon Papyrus like he had just seen a royal guard for the first time. “WOWIE! I bet he’s the boss!”

“No Papyrus, he’s… oh no.”

WHAM

AUUGH!

BASH

GULP

One by one, her character’s estus drained away as the Skeleton danced around the fearsome knight, only to get slapped down again and again by his fearsome attacks.

“Goodness, he’s a tough one! Just one of his hits takes away half of my health!”

“Papyrus he-“

“Yo. Papyrus, keep going! You’ll get him!”

_“Monster kid!”_

“Hee-hee…”

“Oh dear, what’s he doing with his shield? it looks like he’s put more rocks on himself!”

“Papyrus-“

“Yo, try attacking him more! He’s weaker now!”

“DUDE!”

“Pffthahaha!”

“Hmm.. this isn’t working. I seem to be down on my last health potion and I haven’t even touched him yet…”

**“Papyrus, he’s not the boss.”**

“What?! Well why didn’t you just say so?!” The skeleton directed the weary character back down the ladder. “Goodness, if he’s not the boss, I dread to see how challenging the actual boss is. Just where is he?”

“Behind that giant bell…”

“Ah, I see it now!”

He traversed the fog, and the Nameless King and his mount flew gracefully into the arena.

“Hmm… that other guy hit you real hard with that small knife. Maybe we should use that instead!”

“Papyrus, no-“

“how do I use it?”

“Dude, press start. “

“Monster kid, don’t-“

“Okay, now what?”

“Press, L1, and…”

_“Guys!”_

The storm drake had already begun its assault, and it’s fire halved the character’s health.

“Oh dear, he’s already attacking!”

“Okay quick, select the dagger!”

“I see it… got it!”

Soon enough, a small, pithy little dagger filled the armored mam’s hands in lieu of the massive Zweihander. Papyrus rushed forward to meet the Nameless King in battle. Monster Kid giggled to himself. Frisk groaned and covered her eyes. Papyrus gritted his teeth with determination.

Time was not registering to her, but as the seconds washed by, she heard the storm drake screaming, and the unmistakable tone of the riposte sound effect.

“Wait…”

It was dead. The second phase cutscene was already playing.

“Bro, are you kidding?!”

“Golly, he doesn’t look too happy to see I’ve killed his dragon buddy.”

And he wasn’t. The Nameless King, now rushed forward and slammed his sword spear into the unkindled’s shoulder. Five health left. A throwing knife would kill him. Papyrus consumed the last estuc flask, but it only brought him back to a third of his health. Frisk gripped her face again. Surely this was the end.

 

But it wasn’t.

 

Papyrus deftly dodged the undead deity’s furious wind and spear attack, almost as if on instinct. Each whiffed hit bought him three or four or even sometimes five strikes with his plain, barely upgraded dagger (+4), Time seemed to speed by as he kept on hitting, not taking a scratch from the violent King as each roll kept him out of harm’s way. Frisk and Monster kid watched in awe.

‘There’s no way... there’s no way he’s gonna do it, bro…”

“I thinks he’s gonna-“

Then, another riposte. The King fell to his knees. Papyrus walked up to him, seemingly unaware of his narrow window, before plunging the dagger in the King’s torse. The familiar **_*shink*_** sound effect played, and its intensity seemed to drown out all else, from the soundtrack, to the howling wind.

Monster Kid and Frisk were silent. Papyrus dropped the controller and rushed out of the room as the ending cutscene played and the stormy clouds cleared from Archdragon peak.

“Okay, time for dinner you two, let’s go!” he was barely out of the room by the time they heard Toriel’s voice again.

‘Kids, are you done with that game? It’s time for supper!” She got no answer.

"Kids?”

“Dude, I told you that zweihander was garbage.”

“Shut up…”

And the two hurried on over to the table.


End file.
